Meeting. Folk Woodcuts in the Collection of Józef Gwalbert Pawlikowski Found In Lviv

For nearly 70 years it was not clear where the extraordinary collection of folk woodcuts, amassed by Józef Gwalbert Pawlikowski in the 19th century, could be found. The reasons for this are due to the tempestuous times of war as well as a change in the political landscape after 1945.

In 2012, with the cooperation of the Vasyl Stefanyk Lviv National Academic Library, curators from the Seweryn Udziela Ethnographic Museum in Kraków found this incredible collection in the former Polish city of Lwów, better known as Lviv in western Ukraine. Now we are delighted to be able to present these works which have never before been published in their entirety.

The research undergone in Lviv was not a coincidence. Since 2011, the Museum has intensified its quest – starting from Poland – to find places where folk woodcuts can still be discovered. The Second World War led to the prints’ dispersal, which has hampered research activity, hindered any knowledge on their conservational state, and limited fields of exploration for artists, educators and enthusiasts, who treasure woodcut art and draw inspiration from it, desiring the need to embark on new undertakings. In this perspective the Lviv findings are of greater importance. As J. G. Pawlikowski was one of the first to appreciate folk woodcuts, his collection is like no other.

The joint work undertaken by Kraków and Lviv on the Pawlikowski collection also engenders a new understanding which crosses borders. In these folk woodcuts amassed by a remarkable collector, today we can see an incredible ingenuity as well as the dexterity of the workshops, whose works are food for the soul. In this light, they become common heritage!

Curators: Grzegorz Graff, Grażyna Mosio, Beata Skoczeń-Marchewka

Exhibition design: Piotr Michura

A Meeting. Folk woodcuts in the collection of Józef Gwalbert Pawlikowski found in Lwów (Lviv)

Ethnographic Museum in Krakow,

Kazimierz, Former City Hall, Plac Wolnica 1